In the past, I’ve referred to my routine as more of a rhythm. I had a general flow to the day, but nothing strict. But, as my work-from-home jobs now require more time and David’s homeschooling requires more time, I find myself needing a little more structure to get everything done.
Instead of turning on the type-A personality and fitting my life into little boxes on the planner, I took another approach. I asked myself, “What would the ideal day look like?” I thought of everything I needed/wanted to get done and decided on the best order. Here’s what I came up with:
8:00- Get James ready for school
9:00- work out
9:30- get ready
10:00- computer (social media link ups)
10:30-11:30- chores (and usually a game) with David
11:30- lunch and clean up
12:30- Live from E! webshow
1:00- school time
3:30- James home
5:00-6:00- dinner
6:00-7:00- family walk/hang-out time
7:00-8:00- get boys ready for bed
8:00-10:00- editing and blog work
So my goal each day isn’t to get everything done exactly when it’s supposed to get done. My goal is to make the day as close to ideal as possible.
When I get away from ideal, I have decisions to make. For example, if I’m getting near an editing deadline and need extra time, I don’t work out that day. Or, if I didn’t get the laundry started at 10:30 before we played Minecraft, I don’t watch Live from E! at 12:30. If I’m working on a new e-book, I may have to get up earlier each morning to keep the rest of the day ideal.
There’s also lots of margin in my ideal day. There’s plenty of time to call my mom or read my Bible. And I can do that without feeling like I’m ignoring my to-do list, because it’s built into the spaces of time in my day.
This goal of having the ideal day is working for me right now. It’s making the days smoother and more efficient. Adding just a little more structure really made a difference.
